Category: Best Directing

Posted on | No Comments |

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Rewatch

When I was young, I avoided this film. It was one my father loved and I disregarded it as a crusty black and white film, though I did always enjoy the swimming pool scene. In high school, it was shown during a lesson about suicide and I was oddly taken with it to the point where it has become one of my favorites. The well-known and often-copied tale of a desperate but much-loved man who is shown what life would have been like if he had never existed is perhaps a perfect film. It’s well-acted, manages a delicate balance between its drama and comedy, and gorgeously incorporates a real sense of self in its Bedford Falls location. The pairing of James Stewart’s George Bailey hero with Lionel Barrymore’s villainous Potter is unmatched in cinema.   Best Picture Nomination  Holiday

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Director; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

Posted on | No Comments |

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) – Rewatch

David Niven is a bishop obsessed with plans for building an elaborate new cathedral, losing sight of his family and community in the meantime. To this enters angel Cary Grant, charming everyone he meets (except the bishop) and fixing their lives in multitudes of ways. Despite it’s stellar cast, this is only an occasional Christmas watch for me. I have a hard time carrying about the bishop’s dilemma and it’s a bit disconcerting to find the angel macking on the titular character played by Loretta Young even if her reciprocated feelings are understandable. In a somewhat unnecessary supporting role, Monty Wooley plays a professor who provides some words of guidance and a chance for Grant to display more of his angelic powers.  Holiday  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Sound, Recording

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Posted on | No Comments |

5 Fingers (1952)

During World War II, James Mason is valet to the British ambassador in neutral Turkey. Mason uses his connections to offer information on Allied activities to the Nazis. Based on the true story of an Albanian-born German secret agent, Mason makes an excellent spy for the Axis; he’s a perfect mix of gentleman and self-interested conniver. There are moments of great tension, particularly as the noose begins to tighten, but there’s not enough of that for the spy film. Somewhat shot on location in Ankara, it unfortunately doesn’t make great use of its unusual location.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay

Posted on | No Comments |

Women in Love (1969)

These very late 1960s films kill me whenever it feels like everyone was doing all the drugs and they were just trying to one-up each other with the surreal weirdness. Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden are somewhat bohemian sisters and teachers in a coal-mining in 1920s England. Both of them become attracted to and attract the attention of two bachelors, Oliver Reed and Alan Bates. The lives of the foursome twine around each other, with the men also experiencing a connection together. There are discussions about and actions taken with regards to love and sex and commitment. Of the four characters, I most enjoyed Jennie Linden’s performance (perhaps that is telling in a pop psychology way) and find it unfortunate that there doesn’t seem to be much in her filmography to recommend itself.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Leading Role

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Cinematography

Posted on | No Comments |

National Velvet (1944)

Elizabeth Taylor’s star quality might never have shown as much as it did as a twelve year old in this tale of the horsiest horse girl who ever did live. The smittenness of her character for The Pie oozes out of her every action, a puppy love that is portrayed better than any teen romance on film. Even Mickey Rooney’s haminess as a horse trainer can’t detract from Liz’s performance. Though sadly other family characters are either wasted, such as Angela Lansbury as the oldest sister, or annoyingly unnecessary, Jackie Jenkins’s little brother, the relationship between Liz and Anne Revere as her mother has some incredibly beautiful moments as the two bond over finding a love and purpose in life even at an unexpected age. As someone who never really interacted or understood horse girls, the tale still drew me in with its beautiful fake countryside and feel-good, family-friendliness.   Sports

Oscar Wins: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Film Editing

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color

Posted on | No Comments |

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Grappling with what to write about this, I recognize that I probably don’t understand the great majority of what the film is trying to say. Marcello Mastroianni is a journalist who is always searching for the next thing: the next big story, the next woman who excites him, the next thing that’ll bring him the best that life has to offer. Told in episodes that proceed over the course of some portion of time, he ages and progresses on this journey, using the males in his life as inspiration and caution. Every day with potential leads to an exciting, electric night that turns into the grey reality of morning. I love watching Mastroianni move, there’s a cool European smoothness, but also a bit of self-deprecation in the way he hunches his shoulders as if he’s hoping these things will just come to him. Anita Ekberg’s fountain scene is iconic for so many reasons, she exuberates with those best parts of life, fully engrossing in everything life has to offer.

Oscar Win: Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

Posted on | No Comments |

Detective Story (1951)

A surprisingly dark look at a day in a 1950s police precinct, Kirk Douglas leads the cast as an angry detective who has yet dealt with the psychological damage caused by his criminal father, seeing things and people as either all good or all bad. The cases start out fairly light, shoplifters and petty robberies, but the main story involving an illegal abortionist quickly brings the narrative and all those connected to it into a downward spiral of destruction. The acting is solid, but everyone is overshadowed by the brutish nature of Douglas’s character.  Noir

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay

Posted on | No Comments |

The Dresser (1983)

There is a very stagey quality to this film about an aging travelling Shakespearean actor and his dresser during World War II. Albert Finney as the actor and Tom Courtenay as the dresser put their all into their performances and it’s often exhausting to watch. It remains riveting as these two men clash and spar, both entirely dependent on each other while also wanting to push the other away.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role (2); Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Posted on | No Comments |

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Ugh, this film took me forever and more than one watching to get through. My lack of interest in the subject was not helped by a poor quality print and the fact that Franchot Tone and Richard Cromwell look a lot alike. Those two men are newcomers to a regiment of British soldiers during the days of the British Raj. One is a cocky, seasoned soldier and the other is a newly commissioned officer and son of the Colonel. Gary Cooper’s job is to guide these new recruits. The story of the three soldiers is familiar and was done much better in other films of the era, Gunga Din, The Four Feathers, and Beau Geste to name a few.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Assistant Director

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

Posted on | No Comments |

The Stunt Man (1980)

I enjoy watching films within films movies as much as anyone, but there’s so much about this story of an accused murderer on the run from the police who gets hired as a stunt man that makes not a lick of sense. I’m not an expert, but none of the actual filming seems to follow how anything would ever be done to maintain any type of safety or continuity in a film. The performances are all over the top, none more than Peter O’Toole as the deranged director. Steve Railsback looks so much like Charles Manson in this (not surprising that he was cast in that role for Helter Skelter). Within the plot of the film, him showing up wouldn’t have been all that odd.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Scroll to Top